From Stories to Art!

By Hannah Jarmain

The path that took an author from Mexico to Canterbury, England also took a wide turn to Canada and then complete its circle in San Miguel de Allende. Author Francisco Javier Morales was born in Mexico in 1955. He studied Economics in England as a young man. Upon completion his M.A he was then accepted at the famous Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. But the harsh winter of the North made him terribly homesick for the sun and he returned to Mexico His love for writing saved his soul, and with a terrific sense of humor he captured and transformed the harsh reality of life experience into hilarious stories of a young man coming of age in a Latin culture of sex and corruption. He has several published books in which the author offers a rare sense of humor, a common thread in all of his writing.

Book presentationArtists in San Miguel and Other StoriesBy Francisco Javier MoralesThe book proceeds will help the Children’s Literacy Through Art ProgramSat, Jan 24, 6pmBellas Artes

Artists in San Miguel and Other Stories is a collection of whimsical short stories about love encounters in beautiful San Miguel.Personal Achievements, a hilarious humorous fiction about sex and escapades in the work place! This will make you laugh until you cry.

A reception to meet the author is held on Saturday January 24 at 6pm at the Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende.”Artist in San Miguel” by Francisco Javier Morales is published internationally by Palibrio in England. Also available on Amazon.com.

The author has kindly donated 100 percentage of the book proceeds to help the children’s Literacy through Art program. For further event details please contact the Children’s Art Foundation artedelosninos@gmail.com

Excerpt from Artists In San Miguel And Other Stories

By Francisco Javier Morales

“Lady Wicked is a bad woman. She comes and goes through these places and is dedicated to stealing hearts, to destroy careers and to make friends hate each other.”

Bono listened to these affirmations astounded. His beak was opened and his thoughts were back in his memories. “I tell you with sadness, Bono, all of this is true,” the carpenter bird softly. He then added, “We know that close to the Atotonilco Church there was another pair of sparrows which sang marvelously. What happened? Lady Wicked arrived and Elvis and Elton, which are their names, started to antagonize. Now they hate each other. Let no more be said. We will let you rest. Also you can stay all the time you want, isn’t that so, boys?” The rest of the birds agreed.

From the tree where Bono was and from many others that were near, a huge group of feathered beings flew perfectly synchronized into the east. Bono was sad and thoughtful. He had been a fool. One such Wicked Lady had bewitched him. The worst of it was that he had let her deceive him. He remembered the times that Luciano had taught him to sing. He felt bad and uncomfortable with himself. He knew that from a vain illusion, he had lost a friend. “Bono,” he told himself fully convinced, “you have to fix this. Think of a plan and then you will know what to do.”

Friends come together once again Luciano was depressed. Three weeks had passed since that day of the windstorm. His cage has also fallen noisily and he had hit his head and hurt a wing. He felt he would die. Little by little, he recovered consciousness. The blurred vision became clearer gradually. He saw that Bono’s cage was destroyed on the ground. He was fearful when he didn’t hear him. “Bono, my friend, you must be dead like I almost was. Please forgive me, I was a fool. I allowed myself to be deceived by a pretty face,” Luciano told himself with profound sadness.

Some weeks later the noise came little by little. It was coming from the east and seemed like an unceasing and out-of-tune prattle, much like the musicians in an orchestra make when they are tuning their musical instruments moments before a concert. A little while later, a huge group of birds of all type of species, which live in San Miguel and its vicinity, came into view. The birds first flew over the Parish of St. Michael. They went around it several times. A similar spiral appeared in the sky to that of the Milky Way over that church. The birds first went to greet the patron saint of the town and then they flew toward Hernandez Macias, between the Canal and Mesones Streets.

Luciano continued to be pensive. He wasn’t aware that around La Buena Vida, there were thousands of carpenter, sparrows, ducks, white herons, doves, canaries and other species. Someone seemed to coordinate everything and to say one, two, three, four and immediately there was an explosion of voices. As a beginning, one could hear the quack quack of the ducks, the oos oos of the doves and the tams tams of the carpenter birds the moment they nailed their beaks into the trees. Then the sparrows and canaries intervened with high and quick voices.

Luciano was surprised: he couldn’t believe what he heard and saw from his cage. There was a pause. He guessed. He waited the four beats and began to sing full of joy and enthusiasm “With a Little Help from my Friends”. Upon the second phrase, Bono’s voice came together with his voice. He flew toward the place where his cage had been. The two friends sang this song again like they had done before, with enthusiasm and camaraderie. All the birds of San Miguel and its surroundings saw with gaiety how the singing of those two great artists re-established an old friendship.

The song ended. Then, all the birds took flight. Luciano was happy because he knew that Bono and his friends would return. In the air, the birds began to hum; under Bono’s direction “Here Comes the Sun”. Intuitively, they flew toward the Parroquia and made several turns around it. For some, this generated an optical effect and, for others, it was only the good-bye song of all these birds. The San Miguel inhabitants say that at that moment the inside of the Parish filled with light and joy.